Are peaceful co-existence
and progress in the Arabic World possible without granting Freedom
and Democracy to all its peoples?

Democratic elections, freedom of speech and
practical equal rights tend to go hand in hand. Each condition sustains
the others. One fails and the others fail. This is how they are experienced
in the Democratic World. The Arab experience unfortunately tends to take
the opposite form - the absence of all three conditions.

A hundred years ago some very important Arabic
thinkers and philosophers had already begun to criticize this deplorable
state of affairs. They fought for progress, social reform and enlightenment
in the Arab World. To become an equal partner to the Western World still
seemed feasible. Today, however, the divergence between the cultures seems
so striking that some Western commentators speak of a "cultural gap" that
they consider unbridgeable. Yet this was not always the case. Arab Culture
exerted an influence on the development of Western civilization that should
not be underestimated and made a significant contribution to Western Culture.
This influence is still apparent today.

Ibn
Rushd was an important philosopher and scientist, known in the Western
World as Averroes. He lived from 1126 to 1198 in Andalusia and Marrakesh.
His influence on European thought tends to be forgotten by Arabs and Europeans
alike. But in the 13th and 14th century Averroism was as influential as
was Marxism in the 19th century. Ibn Rushd worked as a mediator between
the Arabic and the Western World by commenting and interpreting Greek philosophers
such as Aristotle and Plato, making them accessible to Arabic culture.
In many of his works, he also tried to mediate between philosophy and religion.
Religious leaders did not always praise his works; he was condemned for
heresy by both the Christian, the Jewish and the Islamic orthodoxy and
his works were frequently banished and burnt.

The philosopher of the Middle Ages, controversial
and influential in his own time, has now become the inspiration for the
Ibn Rushd Fund, a non-governmental organization that will - according to
the spirit of Ibn Rushd's philosophy - support the right to free
speech and democracy in the Arabic World. On December 10, 1998, the
800th anniversary of the death of Ibn Rushd, the Ibn Rushd Fund was officially
established. The Ibn-Rushd Prize will be
awarded for the first time in 1999 and will be awarded annually to persons
who have rendered outstanding services in defense of free speech and democracy.
The avowed aim of the Ibn Rushd Fund is to provide support to men and women
who have the courage to think in an independent and progressive way. This
year the prize will be awarded in the field of journalism.